Dementor's Kiss
by Cake-ya-san
Summary: Death Eater Spawn, Dementor child, evil, dark, strange. She hadn't even known her own name until she received a strange visit from an imposing woman and a boy with black hair…Cruella Vipera Black Lestrange. Dark HP/OC, Alternate Reality
1. Prologue

**Dementor's Kiss**

 _Death Eater Spawn, Dementor child, evil, dark, strange. She hadn't even known her own name until she received a strange visit from an imposing woman and a boy with black hair…Cruella Vipera Black Lestrange. Dark HP/OC, AR_

 _Alternate Reality – Neville Longbottom is the boy who lived, Harry grows up in an orphanage. Story lines and fate are changed._

 **The Beginning**

Lucius Malfoy looked through the thick bars of the Azkaban cell his sister in law occupied with narrowed eyes. The woman known as Bellatrix Black Lestrange sat hunched over, her grey shift dirty and torn in places. Her long, mattered black curls covered her face from view however the sparse room could not hide her, nor the small child that sat beside the half mad woman.

"When did you know you were pregnant?" Lucius asked and he was surprised his voice was able to stay even and calm. In the years after Lord Voldermort's disappearance and the paralysing burn that had come to all Death Eaters arms, Lucius had not once visited his fellow followers. He regretted that decision know as he watched a miniature version of Bellatrix tilt her head curiously up at the Lucius, her over large violet eyes and pale skin searing into what was left of his soul. He thought of his own golden haired and happy son Draco and shivered, the child looked to be even younger than his son and he worried about the lasting effects a place like Azkaban could have on someone.

"When I started to show, I didn't know beforehand Luci. They don't give us doctors and the food is delivered through magic already embedded into Azkaban. You're the first one to visit." The listless and dead monotone of the woman was startling. She had always been lively and boisterous in her mannerisms, Azkaban and its Dementor's had sapped away who she was as a person.

"I'll get her out Bella, but she might not be able to stay with me."

Bellatrix lunged forward and gripped the bars separating them, Lucius as aware of the young girl following her mother on silent ghost like steps and the way she moved was so reminiscent of Dementor's and their floating that an unsettling feeling fell over him. The young child placed a cold hand through the bars and Lucius gripped it in his own.

"Have her stay with relatives, you cannot let her be raised by filth." Strength had returned to Bellatrix's voice and Lucius nodded his agreement. He wasn't sure how much he would be able to influence the girl's upbringing but he would make sure that she started Hogwarts at the same time as his son.

"What have you named her?"

Bellatrix turned from the bars and crouched protectively over her daughter and ran her fingers through the dark brown tangle of hair with a smile. "Yes, but I don't think she understands it yet. I' have called her Cruella Vipera Black Lestrange."

Lucius gently pushed the young child's hand back through the bars of the Azkaban cell and bowed to his sister in law and to his niece. "I will do all I can for her Bella, you have my word." He then stalked from the grey, depressing prison and avoided the Dementor's as much as he could. He would go straight to the Ministry and demand they remove a child from the prison, he would also make sure the new and rather conveniently placed Rita Skeeter came along with him so that she would be able to print it in the Daily Prophet.

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Harry watched the other children playing from the shadows, he had hurt another boy the other day with his strangeness and the children at St Margarethe's Orphanage for Children didn't want to play with a freak. He scowled blackly at them, he didn't want to play with them either. Putting his hands in his threadbare pockets he toyed with the gem he had found on the grounds, happy that it was still his. David had tried to take it from him and Harry had gotten angry, he hadn't meant to use his strangeness on the other boy. The surge of anger, shadows and electricity had caused David to be thrown across the room and shocked, the other children were avoiding him now.

Harry liked the quiet and he liked having protection from the older orphans as well. He knew he was special, he had read stories about ordinary children being princes or warriors or something special and someone always came for them as they got older. Harry would bide his time until he was claimed and then he would show all of these ordinary children just how extraordinary he could be.

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"Come along Mister Potter, we have four other children to pick up today."

Harry looked around his small grey room and made sure that his belongings were hidden out of sight before quickly closing the door behind him. He glared down the hallway where curious, thieving eyes watched him from darkened doorways. He flicked his fingers in warning and felt satisfaction swell in his chest when there were a few squeaks of fright and doors shutting all the way. Living in an orphanage where everyone had to share everything and you were never the first person to won something had made Harry very possessive of the few trinkets he had claimed as his own. When he came back he would make sure that anyone who had touched what was his would be punished by his sparking, dark nightmare magic.

Waiting impatiently at the end of the narrow corridor stood a rather imposing woman with a severe iron grey bun and stiff thick clothing that looked at least fifty years out of date. Tugging a soft black scarf around his neck Harry followed the woman out of the orphanage and down the steps to the waiting cab. He felt the suffocation of the grey building leave his shoulders as he looked up at the older woman. She had identified herself as a Professor at his new school and he hoped that all of the people he met were just as interesting as her. They were on their way to get school supplies and it would be the first time in his life that he would be the first one to own these things.

"Who else are we going with?" Harry asked curiously, he wondered if they were orphans like himself and had never known that magic existed. He had always known he was a little different, when he got angry things happened. The shadows moved around him and if anyone touched him they were given a shock. The other children at the orphanage said he gave them nightmares and Harry found that he liked that idea very much.

The lady with him ignored his question as she consulted a thick parchment with cursive writing covering it. Harry couldn't make out a single word from the parchment so sat back and played with the fraying ends of his too large and faded rugby top. They travelled towards London and Harry was interested to see that they were going to the seedier parts of the city. The houses were decaying, close together and dark. Strange shadowy people stood in shadowed corners.

They pulled up in front of a two story house that looked to be falling apart. Harry followed the Professor out of the cab and hopped up the cracked steps, he ignored her scowl of displeasure as he knew she had wanted him to stay in the cab. His green eyes were wide with fascination at the house, he had always lived in the orphanage and it was all that he knew. People with families had always made him envious, this however made him curious as to what type of family lived in such conditions. He didn't have to wait for long, shouting could be heard from inside and the woman Harry stood with muttered under her breath before knocking on the door loudly again.

There was more shouting inside the house and then the door creaked open and a large dark violet eye peaked through the crack up at them.

"May I help you?" the voice was soft, in complete contrast to the bellowing voice still angrily complaining in the background and Harry stepped forward to try and get a better look.

"Yes, are you Miss Lestrange?" the severe lady asked with a clipped sounding voice. Harry looked up at the Professor in surprise, she hadn't sounded that way to him when she had come to collect him.

"I don't understand." The girl said and she flinched back when the woman stepped closer to the door.

"Is there an adult I can speak to child?"

"What is going on out there? Why is it taking you so long to answer the door. Hurry it up you stupid evil thing." There was a startled yelp as the girl was kicked away from the door and Harry narrowed his eyes up at the adult. "Who are you?" the woman at the door was old, tall and thick waisted. She had gnarled fingers and her skin looked like wrinkled tissue paper.

The Professor cleared her throat and stood up straight so she could look down her nose at the older woman. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall from Hogwarts School or Wizardry and I have come to collect Miss Cruella Lestrange to buy her things for school."

The old woman at the door threw back her head and cackled before reaching behind her and grabbing the small girl dressed in washed out rags and dangled her on her tiptoes from the scruff of her neck. "You want to take this maggoty thing with you." A cruel gleam entered the crones eyes and she pushed the girl out of the door and then slammed it back in their faces, "And don't bring her back." The cackling continued on through the heavy wooden door.

The girl had fallen in a tangle of her overlarge rags and long unwashed dark brown hair, she looked up at Harry and then the Professor with her wide violet eyes and stayed on the ground. Harry hesitated at the expression on the older woman's face but stepped up to the girl and held out his hand. He stood there for a moment waiting for her to take his hand but when she flinched back from him and ducked his head Harry sighed and crouched down to better look at the girl.

Harry could feel his shadow magic stretching along the ground around the girl as he tried to get a feel for her, something about her intrigued him and he wanted to know what it was. He was surprised when as soon as his magic touched her the girl unfurled from her position and stared right into his eyes. They were a curious dark purple, too large for her face and she was very pale. Her eyes did not move from Harry's as she lifted a hand to his still outstretched one. Her magic leapt to him, soft and calm and warm. Harry almost moved closer to her in that moment but was interrupted from his discovery of another magical person by their Professor who cleared her throat pointedly and pointed to the cab still waiting for them.

"We do not have time for this, Mister Potter, Miss Lestrange if you would pick yourselves up off of the ground let us move on." Professor McGonagall gave them one last look and then turned away from them and stalked back towards the cab, opening the door and disappearing inside. Harry pulled the girl to her feet and was surprised that she was the same height as him, her overlarge clothes and unkempt appearance made her seem smaller.

"I'm Harry, and you must be Cruella." He said with a small smile and was interested to note that the girl had not let go of his hand when Harry had tried to pull away from her. The girl turned hooded violet eyes on him and shook her head.

"I don't know that name, the old one called me Dementor most times, but also Death Eater Spawn, Evil thing, Dark Child and Maggot." Harry scowled at the names and turned back to the door the girl had been thrown out of. He tightened his hold on the girls hand and pulled her along after him, it was only then that he noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Just as they reached the cab Harry stopped and stared down at the girl with narrowed green eyes.

"Your name is Cruella, no one should call you those other names and don't answer to them. Do you understand?"

The girl cocked her head to the side curiously and a small smile appeared on her lips as she looked down at their joined hands. In all of her life she could not remember a time when someone had been kind to her. A soft feeling of warmth unfurled in her chest and she nodded her head to the boy.

"Yes, I understand," she said.

"Good, come on then." He pulled her into the cab and ignored the stern look the Professor sent his and Cruella's way. Harry liked to have things that were his and no one else's and as he watched the fascinated expression on the thin girl next to him he felt his magic curl around their joined hands and settle like a snake her warm magic thrummed next to his. She was going to be _his_ friend and he would hurt anyone who tried to take her from him.

"Where are we going next?" Harry asked, he wasn't surprised when their Professor did not reply to him.

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TBC


	2. Chapter one

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter_

 _Warning: Artistic licence has been taken_

 **Dementor's Kiss**

 _Chapter One: One Knockturn deserves another_

Harry was disappointed in the other children and their families, they were ordinary and mundane in appearance and each had a family member to accompany them. When they had gone to pick up the third child it was the first time Harry had realised the cab was magically enhanced to allow so many passengers, however it did not detract from his disappointment. When Harry had met Cruella their magic's had touched and he had been able to establish a connection with her, the other children's magic was either too small to be felt or they were just not like Harry and Cruella.

The other children and their families had also tried to stay as far away from Cruella as possible. It could have been because she smelt and Harry wouldn't lie, the girl did need a bath, but they could have been kinder about it. He looked over at Cruella and found her staring down at her hands, her large purple eyes were blinking rapidly and were teary. Harry felt anger surge trough his veins, a familiar feeling he had had at the orphanage and it always proceeded his magic lashing out.

"Are you well Cruella?"

The girl jumped in her seat and looked up at him with a soft smile.

"The bright colours and lights hurt my eyes." She said softly, her delicate hand came up and almost touched the corner of his eye. "Except you Harry, your colours don't hurt me."

"What colours are you seeing? My magic?" he was intrigued, it was not something that he could see, oh he could feel peoples magic if they were strong enough or impressive.

"I am unsure, I see you as I see myself but I also see something here, and here and here." She had pointed to his eyes, his heart and his hands. "It is not as bright as the colour of your eyes, but you don't hurt me, "she gestured to the others in the cab, "They are very bright."

Harry reached out and clutched the younger girls hand and patted it gently, "we shall see about getting you glasses to help."

He was happy to see her smile at him and he sat back to contemplate the strangeness of the girl. She was the second magical being he had met and the first he had made any connection with. He looked over at the others in the cab and frowned, they were nothing special at all.

The three other boys and their families also had ordinary names of Justin, Dean and Terry and those three boys had quickly formed a friendship that excluded both Harry and Cruella. Harry narrowed his green eyes at the three boys in front of them as they whispered to each other.

"Are you well Harry?" the boy looked sideways at the girl still holding his hand and shrugged.

"Just thinking." He replied.

"Are you sad that they do not include you?" Cruella asked, her hand squeezing his. "You can go and talk to them if you want, I am fine by myself."

Harry grinned and shook his head, "I am quite happy where I am." And he sat back and wondered about what they could expect from Diagon Alley where they were going to purchase their school supplies.

They arrived in a short amount of time and Harry sat back with Cruella to allow the ordinary people to escape form the cab first before they followed at a more leisurely pace.

Harry could feel the magic surrounding the Pub that they stood in front of. Its strange sign showing a cauldron leaking vile green liquid from it with jaunty writing splashed across it saying the "Leaky Cauldron' it pulsed with muggle repelling magic and Harry flickered his gaze down to Cruella who was squinting her eyes and trying to look at things sideways instead. He was not at all surprised that the others they were with did not feel the muggle repelling charms except the muggles with them and Professor McGonagall helped them pass the wards so that they could enter.

The old woman stopped Harry and Cruella from entering after their peers and glared down her nose at the small girl. She rummaged inside her robe before producing a small square grey handkerchief which she tapped her wand to and it grew into a cloak with a deep hood. She placed the garment around the girl's narrow shoulders and pulled the hood firmly over her face.

"Keep it on at all times girl." Then the Professor moved away from them with a swish of her robe and into the pub. Harry narrowed his eyes after the older woman and grabbed Cruella's hand fiercely and pulled her after him. There had to be a reason the Professor was treating Cruella differently and Harry wanted to know why.

The inside of the Pub was like any muggle pub, just with strange patrons. He could make out shady characters hiding behind pints in the corners and ugly witches laughing and cackling and he heard the word Hag used. The barkeep was a hunchback and there were a few strangely dressed wizards and witches wandering around eating and yelling and laughing and spilling food and drink where ever they went. Sidestepping the whole mess the group of prospective Hogwarts students, their professor and the muggles made it out to the court yard where Professor McGonagall pushed a few stones with her wand tip and the entire entrance changed into an archway.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the complexity of it, surely the muggle repelling charms were enough to keep unwanted muggles out, why did they need a secret doorway as well, why not keep the archway open all of the time. As if reading his mind he felt a tug on his sleeve and he turned sharply to Cruella who was pointing to the muggles. Their opened mouthed awed faces explained it all. Wizards wanted to show off how much better they were than muggles. Harry felt a smug smiled start to spread across his face, he could agree with that sentiment, Wizards were better than muggles. Harry also knew that he and Cruella were better than their peers as well.

The streets were crowded with witches and wizards of all ages and he could see other children being herded around by their parents. He pulled out the list of school items Professor McGonagall had given them and twisted around to try and see which shops he would have to go to, to buy those things.

"We will go to Gringotts bank first so that you may exchange your muggle money and for Potter and Lestrange to go to their vaults." Professor McGonagall said, though she almost whispered Lestrange and her eyes searched the crowd furtively. Harry gripped Cruella's hand tighter and pulled her along behind him as they followed the older woman to the tall marble building. It was magnificent and he could feel the magic pulsing from it. Cruella's small hand darted out and touched the marble with a caress, though she still tried to look at things sideways or from the corners of her eyes.

"It feels wonderful." She said and looked up at Harry, her large purple eyes sparkled within the deep hood of her cloak and Harry smiled back.

Harry was surprised that there were creatures working the bank with thick leathery skin, angry faces and sharp pointed features.

"They are goblins." Cruella whispered to Harry, she bowed to a few who looked their way and their features changed and smoothed out at the gesture.

"How'd you know to do that? Have you met Goblins before?"

"It was one of my chores for the old woman I live with, I had to take packages to many different people, mostly creatures not wizards and witches. Goblins like it if you are polite to them."

"Mr Potter, this is your vault key that was held in trust by the Ministry of Magic until now. Miss Lestrange your family vaults were seized by the Ministry of Magic and so you have a Ministry appointed stipend for your Hogwarts years. If you stand in that line in the centre you will be able to go and visit your vaults. Once you have done so and collected your money you then have three hours to buy your Hogwarts things and meet us back here in front of Gringotts to return home. Ask the owners to shrink your items for you and when you return home I will unshrink them for you. Do you understand?"

Harry wondered why they wouldn't all travel together but he was also looking forward to being unsupervised. "Yes Professor," Harry and Cruella said in unison and they quickly grabbed the keys from her hand and joined the que in the centre of the room.

"Name?" the goblin asked in a scratchy voice not looking up from the parchment he was writing on.

"Harry Potter"

"Vault number?"

"Err…I don't know, I have a key." Harry said and put the key on the desk in front of the Goblin. It picked up the gold key and turned it around in his hands for a few moments before nodding and turning narrowed black eyes on Harry.

"I will need to verify that you are Harry Potter and holder to the vaults of the Potters."

"Alright."

He held out his hand when the goblin gestured for him to do so and the creature pressed a strange silver stick into his palm, he felt a slight prick and blood welled in his palm before it was flipped over and placed on thick parchment. Harry watched in fascination as a tree started to form from his blood with names and sketches all the way down to his name and face. Once the picture was complete Harry was given his hand back and he saw that the cut was gone and healed and the parchment was rolled up and thrust into his face.

"This is your identification for when you return Mr Potter. Griphook will take you to your vault."

"Wait, Cruella and I would like to go together if we can sir, it's our first time here."

The goblin took in the small hooded witch and Harry for a moment before nodding and asking "name?"

"Cruella Lestrange."

The entire Gringotts entrance hall hushed and the Goblin leaned forward in his seat to better look at her. Harry was confused and took a quick look around the room and was surprised to see the other witches and wizards within the bank staring at Cruella like they had seen a ghost before their faces twisted into anger, hatred and fury.

"Griphook will take you through." The goblin said when he looked up at the other witches and wizards within the bank as well.

They were led quickly from the room by a smaller goblin who kept nervously looking back the way they had come. They were led to a small metal mining cart and they sat down quickly and then they were off shooting through the vast cave system of the banks underground vaults.

"Griphook, do you know why those people don't like the name Lestrange?" Harry thought it must be the last name as he couldn't think of any reason someone had to hate Cruella.

The goblin glanced at him with shifting eyes and shook his head before turning back to face the front of the cart.

"It's alright Harry, maybe we can ask the Professor when we get back."

He wasn't able to answer as the cart stopped abruptly and he almost fell out of it.

"Ministry stipend vault for Miss Lestrange." Griphook said and hopped out of the cart gracefully and stalked towards the vault. Harry and Cruella followed and the smaller girl stepped forward with her vault key and with Griphook's help was able to open it.

It was very small and had seven small sacks inside the vault labelled 1 to 7 she carefully entered and found an envelope attached to the sack with the number 1 on it. Opening the envelope she found that the ministry had provided for her seven years of education and that she was to take one sack out each year to pay for her school books, potions supplies and robes. If there was any money left over it would be for her to keep.

Picking up the sack with the number 1 on it she smiled and bowed to Griphook as he helped her close the vault.

"Thankyou Griphook." She said and followed Harry back into the cart to go to his vault.

Harry had been expecting the same thing in his vault that was further underground than Cruella's, when he opened the vault however he was surprised by the stacks of gold, silver and bronze coins, the jewels and strange artefacts, the books and clothing. He also had an envelope waiting for him but his was floating in front of his face and he snatched it from the air and opened it.

It was a letter from his parents.

 _Harry,_

 _This is the vault that was set up for while you are away at Hogwarts, once you have graduated a key to the main Potter vaults will appear. Wear your Potter ring so that anyone who sees you will know that you are Lord Potter while at school and study hard, learn everything that you can. We love you,_

 _Lily and James Potter,_

 _Your parent's xoxoxox_

Harry stared at the letter for a moment before a smug grin settled on his lips and he looked over at Cruella to see her large eyes watching him.

"Let me just grab some money, and if you see anything you want while she shop today Cruella then I will buy it for you." The smaller girl jerked backwards in shock and she shook her head.

"Harry it's your money, you don't need to buy my anything."

Harry laughed happily as he grabbed a sack and filled it with gold, silver and bronze coins, "I think that if it's my money and I want to spend it on you, you should let me." Harry then found the Potter family ring and placed it on his right hands fourth finger.

Cruella bowed to Harry and tugged at his hand once he had left his vault, eager to get out of the underground bank system and up to where the shops are.

"What will you buy first?" she asked curiously as they sped back to the surface.

Harry pushed his wild hair from his face and pulled at his grey outfit and then touched gingerly at the sack that Cruella wore. "Clothing."

Cruella shared Harry's happy grin and they waved cheerfully goodbye to Griphook, Harry flinging a gold coin at the goblin in thanks.

They had made it just outside the doors to the goblin bank when they were confronted by a group of angry wizards. Harry frowned up at them unsure of what was going on, he gripped Cruella's smaller hand tighter and shifted in front of her.

"Can we help you?" Harry asked after he had tried vainly to get around them.

The gathered witches and wizards ignored Harry and instead turned stabbing hands and wands on Cruella, pulling her roughly from Harry and throwing her to the ground. Harry pushed forward crossly and tried to snatch Cruella back but he was boxed out of the ring of witches and wizards who stripped Cruella of her hood and cloak to allow her long dark tangled hair to fall into her large purple eyes. The witches and wizards hissed furiously and stepped confidently forward.

"-Death Eater scum."

"Just like your mother..."

"-Evil..."

Harry pushed and pulled desperately at the adults surrounding Cruella, he didn't really understand the things they were saying or why they were, but he knew what angry people did when they were in groups. He looked at the frightened eyes of the small girl and felt his fear and anger clash together. The professor had known something like this would happen if Cruella was identified, Harry didn't know why it was happening but he knew the professor knew.

Their Professor had left the two of them alone to deal with whatever happened and Harry snarled at the thought of losing his new friend. He could feel his magic shift inside of him and start to crackle along his skin like little shocks of electricity, however before he could rip through the circle of adults in front of him he was pushed aside and a tall, thin man stepped regally into the circle as if nothing could stop him.

He was an immaculately and richly dressed man, he carried a cane and his long platinum locks were tied back with a black ribbon that stirred in the wind. A small blonde boy followed on his heels and was dressed almost exactly alike, his pointed chin high in the air.

The tall, thin man reached down and picked Cruella up so that she could stand on her feet again and ignoring the shocked angry yells of the crowd he pulled Cruella away quickly through the streets, the trailing crowd unsure of following.

Harry stared after then man, blonde boy and Cruella for just a moment, his magic stuttering and calming. He took another long look at the gathered and milling crowd who were muttering under their breath, cursing the man that had interfered in their revenge before he took off after his friend and her surprise saviour.

"Wait," Harry cried out as he tried to reach for Cruella's hand only to stop short when the man with long hair spun on his heels, his cloak swishing elegantly behind him and a wand was pointed at his throat threateningly. Harry thought it was quite impressive and he hoped that as he learnt magic he would be able to threaten people well enough for them to be afraid of him.

Cold blue eyes glared at Harry, looking him over for a brief moment "can I help you?"

"Harry." Cruella said in relief and she pulled her arm out of the grip of the man and came towards him. Harry felt the flare and soothing magic of his friend and relaxed, he hadn't realised how tense, angry and upset he had still been until her hand was back in his.

"Thank you." Harry said to the man and what looked to be his son. The small boy with a pointed chin and blonde hair grinned and stepped out from behind his father to dart forward. He was taller than Harry with grey eyes and pale skin.

"I'm Draco, this is my father Lucius Malfoy." Harry was started by the boy's friendliness, his father continued to glare down at Harry, though his wand was squared away and he remained silent and observing.

"Harry Potter," he said slowly and then gestured to the girl at his side his green eyes sharp and focussed to catch a reaction, "Cruella Lestrange."

"Yes, yes, I already knew that. I'm just so glad we were in Diagon Alley today."

Harry was surprised so see no anger or fear in the boys or his father's eyes and he relaxed further.

"Cruella and I are cousins, though we haven't been able to meet until now." Draco continued on, his face bright and happy, "the Ministry put a ban on my family helping her, otherwise father would be in lots of trouble. I hope you are not too upset with us because of it."

Cruella smiled and allowed Draco to grasp her other hand and Harry tried to make sense of what the boy had just said to them.

"I don't under-"

"-Draco, I think it best to take this conversation elsewhere." The blonde boy looked up at his father and flushed a light pink and nodded to accept his father's suggestion.

"Come on, I'm sure you've got loads of questions. We can go down to Madame Tussade's waxes and oddities for some tea and cakes." Draco tugged at Cruella's hand and she in turn pulled at Harry's and the three walked along a darker, grimier street named Knockturn Alley with Lucius Malfoy following behind them.

They settled down into their booth, and Lucius left them while he went off to do business, he gave the three of them a strict warning not to go wandering off by themselves. Draco ordered tea and cakes for them all and waved away Harry's protest about paying.

"This is the first time I get to meet my cousin and do anything for her, we have so much money Harry don't fret."

Harry was a little disgruntled by the happy blonde and his continued hold of Cruella's hand. Harry had found her first, she was his and he had an awful feeling that Draco was going to try and take her away from him. Once their tea and cakes arrived they drank and ate in relative silence until Draco sat back and stared at his cousin with sad eyes.

"I wish we could have done more for you as you grew Cruella, Father appealed to the Wizengamot so many times but they would not let us do anything for you."

"Why not?" asked Harry with narrowed eyes, trying to make sense of the wizarding words, "what's the Wizengamot and why couldn't you do anything until now?" he turned to Cruella next, "did you know he was your cousin?"

Cruella shook her head, her purple eyes blinking as she tried to think back to see if she had known anything about the Malfoys. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered the grey place, her mother and then man that had come to get her out.

"I remember that Mr. Malfoy helped me to get out from the grey place, but I did not know we were family." She said softly to Harry, her attention on him and Harry felt pleased that it was.

"Are you muggle born then?" Draco asked curiously, trying to remember the politically correct way of speaking and then remembered that the black haired boy might not know what that meant and rephrased "do you not know anything about the wizarding world?"

"I don't have parents, I grew up in an orphanage and have only just been made aware of the magical world."

"Oh how awful, are muggles…err non magical people awful? I bet they are."

Harry laughed at the face the boy made and was strangely happy that someone else could understand that being different and extraordinary was important.

"They are that." He agreed, "So why couldn't Cruella know who you were?"

"Oh, well you see a long time ago I think I was only one at the time there was a war going on in the wizarding world. Cruella's mum did some things that were very bad and she was sent to prison – Azkaban. My family were accused of doing bad things as well, but father was able to prove his innocence. When Father learnt that Cruella was with her mother in Azkaban he petitioned the courts the Wizengamot to release her to our family.

The court was afraid of father having Cruella for some reason and they don't like her mother at all and her closest relatives were my mother and Cruella's father's mother. They gave her to the Lestrange's for political reasons I think. Our family was banned from having contact with her at all otherwise they would send her back to Azkaban to be with her mother. We can only see her now since it's in public but I suppose we need to keep our distance. I'm glad we came today though and were able to help you get away from those terrible ugly people."

Cruella just smiled and patted Draco's hand and went back to eating her cake. Harry tried to take in everything that he had heard. It was a lot to take in, and he was worried that too much interaction with Draco and his father would cause this mysterious Wizengamot to take Cruella away from him.

"Father should be back soon, we won't be able to shop with you but I think Father has gone to get someone to be with you so that what happened in front of Gringotts doesn't happen again." Draco reached across the table and gripped Cruella's small hand in his, his grey eyes sad and filled with tears. Harry thought the boy too emotional. "I wish I could come with you, but it is only a few short weeks and then we will be able to see each other all the time at Hogwarts." He smiled at her and then turned to Harry.

"Thank you Harry for being her friend."

"Yes, thank you Harry." Harry turned to Cruella at her soft words and her soft smile and felt an answering twitch to his lips.

"Draco, time to go. Cruella, Harry this is Scabior and he will take you around Diagon Alley to collect your school things." Lucius stood next to their booth with a strangely dressed man. Draco stood up, came around the booth and pulled Cruella to stand up before hugging her tight. Harry was impressed with the way the young blonde boy did not scrunch his nose up at her smell, nor did he shy away from touching the girl who was undoubtedly unwashed and her clothing dirty.

"I will see you both at Hogwarts." He said and then turned away from them both and followed his father from the shop without a backwards look. Harry then turned to the man who was left with them. The man Scabior was strangely handsome, with long brown hair and bright honey brown eyes, he wore outdated Victorian style clothing and a scarf around his neck in a soft pink. He looked ruffled and a little unkempt but he was not angry or looking at Cruella like he wanted to hurt her.

Harry was startled however when Scabior lent down to Cruella and sniffed her. She stared up at him with her wide violet eyes before stepping closer to him to allow the man to turn her around and continue to smell her.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked angry, confused and a little frightened that this man might be a paedophile. Cruella turned to Harry with a soft smile and held out her hand to Scabior who continued to look her over.

"He is gaining my scent and magical signature to track us if we get lost. Many magical creatures do this when I first meet them." She explained and Harry narrowed his green eyes to get a better look at the man…magical creature?

"What kind of creature?" Harry asked as he slowly and carefully made his way closer to Cruella and Scabior.

"Werewolf." The man grunted as he pushed Cruella away from him and reached out to Harry. Harry darted out of his reach and shook his head.

"I'm fine, just make sure Cruella stays safe, we need to get going and you can explain who and what you are on the way." Harry ordered, feeling a little better now that he knew the man's actions weren't decidedly creepy, but necessary to the protection of his friend. He allowed his magic to swirl about him and batter at the older man for a moment to gauge his reaction and also to test his magical capabilities. He was pleasantly surprised to feel a static hum against his magic that showed him the man was capable and less ordinary then the others he had met, but was by no means as compatible or exciting to him as Cruella's own magic.

"Where do you want to go first?" Scabior asked as he pulled his wand out and twirled it in his slightly clawed hands. "I'll just cast a notice me not spell on sweet Cruella before we go."

"Clothing first, then we can just go down this list," Harry pulled out the folded parchment school list from his pocket and handed it over to Scabior.

Scabior snatched it from the young black haired boy's hands and scanned the list before giving it back. He then cast the spell on the small dirty girl and then took her hand. His honey eyes tracked the boy's movements as he took the girls other hand and pulled her closer to himself and Scabior hid a smile by turning his head. He had noticed the possessive behaviour of the boy towards the girl and he liked that crazy Bella's girl had such a dark knight for herself.

They left Madam Tussade's Waxes and Oddities, quickly left Knockturn alley and went back into the bright and bustling main street of Wizarding London along Diagon Alley. Harry was amazed to watch peoples gaze slide away from an uncloaked Cruella and marked it in his mind to learn the spell as soon as he could.

They entered Madam Malkin's Robes for Every-wear and were greeted by two workers. Scabior took off the notice me not spell and performed a slight glamour on Cruella to change her eye and hair colour to be less noticeable, he stepped back and barked out the need for school robes, good quality and shoes. He then added to the list of everyday clothing, underwear, socks and pyjamas. By the time they left they had been fitted with so many clothes that they had several bags full to carry. Harry also quickly picked out a pair of tinted glasses and pushed them onto Cruella's nose.

"Does this help with the colours?"

The girl looked around her for a moment, no longer trying to look at things sideways or from the corners of her eyes and she nodded.

Cruella paid for her school robes but both Harry and Scabior paid for the other garments in her bags. Scabior shrunk their shopping bags down and steered them from the shop casting another notice me not at Cruella as they entered the streets again.

Harry and Cruella were pulled along down the street to Ollivander's Wands and led inside. The building was dark and the old man behind the counter turned to them with a smile.

"New Hogwarts Students?" he asked happily, not even flinching when Scabior revealed Cruella under his charm.

"Yes." Harry and Cruella said at the same time and shared a smile with each other.

"Very well, both of you come over here for a moment. Yes like that, put your arms out."

Two magical tapes zipped up and around both Harry and Cruella while Scabior looked on and Ollivander took down the notations of their growth expectations, arm reach, dominant hands and magical signatures. He then spun around gathering different long boxes and depositing them into two distinct piles in front of the two children.

"Just take a wand out of the box and give it a swish. If it's a good match then something will happen, you don't have to try too hard. Don't be shy."

Harry and Cruella opened their first boxes and pulled out two very different looking wands and gave them a swish. Nothing happened and so they tried the next ones after urging from Mr Ollivander. There were some times where the old wizard took the wands out of their hands before they had even tried to wave them about as he tutted under his breath and would replace it with a different one. Scabior watched them both with a smile on his face while Ollivander swung up and down his rickety ladder to bring down more boxes of wands. There was a sparkling chiming sound and pretty coloured lights flew from the wand that Cruella held in her hand and Ollivander clapped happily and Harry turned curiously towards her to see what wand she had.

"Thought so, thought so. It's such an odd combination but knowing who your parents are and your history it isn't much of a mystery that you would have an odd wand."

Harry scowled at the old man and he saw out of the corner of his eye Scabior take a step forward menacingly but the old man ignored them both and took Cruella's wand out of her hand to place back in its box carefully.

"11 ¾ inches blackthorn wood with a Dementor soul string core. One of a kind, I found that it was such a hard magical substance to work with that I could only produce one working wand. See the markings on the wood itself, the magical core once settled in the wood does this. It's such a fascinating procedure that all wands are unique to themselves." The old man looked up and smiled happily at them all, placing the box into Cruella's hands carefully before turning his attention back onto Harry to find him his wand.

It took another half an hour before his wand a 12 ½ inch bloodwood wand with basilisk tongue core was found to be his match. Ollivander eyed the two young children carefully while he rang up the price and followed them to his doorway.

"You both will do great things with your magic, such unique young people."

Harry was happy to leave the wand shop and pulled Cruella away from the creepily muttering old man. He didn't see anything wrong with their wands. They were both beautiful and resonated with his magic in a pleasant way. He had listened to Professor McGonagall who had explained that they couldn't do magic outside of school otherwise they would be expelled from the school before they even got there. He listened again while Scabior explained that once a student bought their wand it was registered with the Ministry of Magic, their magic signature and wand both marked with a monitoring charm and that if any magic was performed outside of their school they would be held accountable before the courts and expelled from magical society. Scabior had explained that the Ministry wanted to make sure that all young people learnt magic properly and under strict rules to counter terrorism, dark arts and ingenuity. The man had scoffed and said that there were other ways to learn magic without actually doing the spell work.

His words had intrigued Harry and he made a mental note to go over those words at a later date. They went to the apothecary to pick up their Hogwarts 1st year potions starter kit and that too was shrunk down for easy carrying and then they spent almost an entire two hours looking at books. Cruella had been so fascinated by it all that Harry had asked her which books she liked. He was surprised when the young girl flushed and looked down and away from him.

"What's wrong?"

She shuffled around for a moment and rubbed at her skinny arms before sighing and mumbling under her breath. "What?" he had asked again, leaning towards her to better hear what she was saying.

"I…I can't read, not very well. I know my letters and I can remember things well but the old lady didn't want me reading her notes, I was sent to collect the things and it was never my place to read anything. I…does this mean I won't be able to go to school?" she looked so frightened and worried that everything she had seen and experienced today would be taken away from her that Harry felt that fierce protective feeling for her well up inside his chest and he grabbed her shoulders and waited until she was looking into his eyes.

"I will help you once we are at school. You'll be so good at reading that no one will know the difference."

She smiled up at him, "thank you Harry." Harry shrugged it off, grabbed her hand again and pulled her after him. The floating basket behind them slowly filled with different books that Harry wanted to read outside of their school books. Scabior trailed behind them slowly his eyes on the other patrons of the book store.

They ended up with small children's books to help Cruella learn better as well as books on the Magical world Harry now found himself in. This such as 'Wizarding throughout the Ages' and 'War of the Wizards' he also liked 'Hogwarts A History' and 'Sordid Sorts – lives of the Famous Witch and Wizard.' Anything that he thought that they might need to know before getting to Hogwarts.

"You might like this as well." Scabior held out a thin black leather bound book with gold calligraphy on the cover, the title was 'Pureblood Customs and Culture.'

Harry shrugged and added it to their pile. The cashier had looked at their group sceptically and was surprised when Harry paid for it all without even blinking. Scabior smirked as he shrunk down the books and they hurried out to get a trunk for their school things, their names embossed in silver on the front, lid and sides with a Hogwarts crest designed to change once they had been sorted into their houses. They also got parchment, ink and quills for their school work and Harry bought a few leather bound books to help Cruella learn to read and write while at school.

"I think that's everything." Harry said, looking at their school list one more time, "Do we need anything else?" he asked Scabior. The man in question had just returned from buying them all ice-cream from Fortescue's and Harry gratefully started to lick the delicious treat.

"You can take a pet to school, come along there are a few places you can buy them from but the best is back down Knockturn Alley, let's go."

They hurried back down the dark alley way, Scabior checking his pocket watch every few minutes, "we won't have long for you to choose, I need to get you back to where you are to meet your Professor and I can't be caught with you both."

"Will you get into trouble Mr Scabior?" Cruella asked concerned, she squeezed the older man's hand, never shying away from his sharp nails.

The man shrugged elegantly, "not so much no, but it is better that you not associate with me." He ignored Harry's probing questions on why it wouldn't be such a good idea and what the Wizarding population thought about magical creatures and pulled them into a dark shop. The two children blinked their eyes rapidly to be able to see in the low light and were surprised to find the room large, clean and strangely enchanting. Along the walls were cases of exotic animals, along the back wall were owls of different kinds and in the middle of the room were glass boxes with cat and doglike creatures.

"The rules for a pet at Hogwarts are that you may have a founding animal as a pet as long as you have a licence or you may have either a toad, owl, rat or cat."

"What are the founding animals?" Harry asked Scabior distractedly his eyes were following Cruella who had pulled away from him and her hands were trailing along the glass cages of the animals lining the walls in fascination.

"Raven, Badger, Lion or Snake. You're not likely to get permission to bring either a badger or a lion to school, though small miniatures were common one hundred years ago but you could get either a raven or a snake if you so desired. Mr Oakenshaw will be able to produce a licence for you."

"Thank you I…" Harry trailed off and tilted his head to the side, he could hear hushed conversations happening all around him and he was confused as to who was talking. Walking over to Cruella to see what had captured her attention he gave a low whistle at the beautiful and entrancing snake that was winding and dancing, light flashing off of its scales, "wow."

" _Yess, I know I'm beautiful. Look at my ssscalesss."_

" _Huh? Did you say something Cruella?"_ Harry blinked at the girl slowly and was surprised to see the girl smile brightly up at him in excitement.

"Harry? Say that again, but look at the snake."

He did so, his eyebrow raising at the girl almost humming with happiness.

"Harry, you're a Parselmouth, you have the ability to speak to snakes. Quick, ask the snake what its name is." Harry raised a dark eyebrow, wondering if they had been shopping too long and his new friend was tired and a little bit asleep and dreaming while standing. However he shrugged and turned back to the slow moving dark green snake.

" _Hello, my name is Harry, what's yours?"_ he was surprised however when the snake stopped moving, his tongue flickering out to taste the air and then hissed back at him and he could understand it.

" _Hello ssspeaker, my name iss orlisss."_

"I…what?" Harry asked confused and turning to Scabior who was now behind the two of them and with a very surprised look on his face.

"You have a rare magical ability Harry, you can communicate with snakes. It is very rare and I have only met two people in my life who could do so. Would you like to purchase a snake or should you go with the mundane owl or cat?"

Harry bristled at the thought of mundane, he was better than that and if having a rare magical ability set him apart from everyone else then that was good. He looked back down at the beautiful serpent and also cast his eye around the room to see if there were any others that were just as entrancing. There was a very small black snake set in the corner of the room and from the glow of the heat lamp he could see a deep purple shine to it. Glancing over at the still stunned Cruella, Harry hurried over to the snake.

" _Hello, I am Harry, who are you?"_ the small black snake shifted and lifted his head up to taste the air around it.

" _Cessation."_ It hissed carefully.

" _And what type of snake are you?"_

" _Sstonewood"_ Harry looked down at the small plaque on the snake's glass cage and read through the information. A small venomous snake that turned itself to stone or wood when still to remain unnoticed though its venom was a fast acting sedative and it was an affectionate, slow snake.

" _If I buy you for my friend would you protect her?"_

The snake waved about for a moment before curling in on itself _"would it feed me yummy thingsss?"_

" _Yess."_

" _Then yess_."

" _Good._ " Harry then went back to the dark green snake he had seen first and tapped the glass to gain its attention while he scanned over the information plaque on the Lamia snake, the enchanter snake and Harry grinned at the thought of owning such a wonderfully magical creature.

" _I will buy you Orlisss, will you be my companion?"_

The snake laughed a few hisses and bowed to him _"Happy to ssspeaker Harry."_

Harry then pulled Cruella away from the snake and was amused as she blinked her eyes again to adjust to seeing things again.

"I'm going to buy you a present and you will accept it Cruella." The young girl shook her head to protest but was ignored by Harry as he and Scabior went to haggle the price of the two snakes, their travel cases, heat lamps and food. Once bought and licences given and instructions on the delivery of the magical companions Harry, Cruella and Scabior left the shop and hurried back through the streets of Magical London and towards their meeting place with their Professor.

"I have placed a timing spell on the things you bought today. Once you reach home they will unshrink and you will be able to pack them away ready for school. This is where I leave you, be safe and I may see you again next year when you go for your shopping trip. He bowed low to them both and gave a jaunty wink before he disappeared from right in front of them just was Professor McGonagall rounded the corner with a rather harassed look on her face.

*~*~* DK *~*~*

Harry was happy to see the back of the other boys and their families, he had sneered at them while Professor McGonagall and been kind and polite to the ordinary people. He was a little anxious to say goodbye to Cruella and as they came towards her house they were surprised to find it gone.

Cruella stood in front of where her house should have stood with a confused expression on her face, her small hands shaking and her overlarge violet eyes looking up at her Professor.

"I don't understand Professor, where is my house?"

Professor McGonagall ignored the question and pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment to try and think through the situation.

"Do you know where your other family members live?" She asked the small girl and was unsurprised when she shook her head. Taking out her list of students and their addresses the Professor squinted at the words before another sigh escaped her. "It looked like your family has abandoned you Miss Lestrange, your home address has become unplottable and your new address seems to be the same as Mr Potters. You will have to accompany me to Mr Potters home and we will see if we cannot get you situated with him there."

Unsure about what was happening and looking into Harrys confused eyes, Cruella hopped back inside the magically enhanced vehicle and blinked her eyes rapidly so as not to let the tears she could feel to fall.

The ride to the Orphanage was done in silence, Harry ignored the Professors frowns and glares at her parchment and sat facing the window holding tightly to Cruella's hand and trying to block out the way her breath hitched in her chest as she tried desperately not to cry.

Harry had been abandoned as a baby, he didn't know who his family was and he did not know of any other home than the orphanage. He didn't know how it would feel to have lived with people for most of his life and then come home after a day out to find them gone, disappeared without a word to him and no way to find them.

Harry was not surprised however to find them back at the Orphanage with the Professor doing some Jedi mind tricks on the Orphanage co-ordinator and other workers. They were led down one of the corridors and into a small tiny room with a single lumpy bed where Cruella was to live. Their Professor frowned at the both of them before saying goodbye and then leaving.

Harry blinked his green eyes in disbelief, how could the Professor leave them both like that? It didn't make any sense at all, Cruella had been uprooted from her family and brought to an orphanage.

"What?" he hissed angrily under his breath and he hadn't even realised he'd been clenching his fist or that in his anger his magic was welling up and lashing out until a small, cold hand reached out to his fist and tried to open it up carefully to stop his nails from digging into his skin. He could feel the soft gentle sway of Cruella's magic calming him and he allowed her to lead him over to her ugly, lumpy squeaky bed and they both sat down on it together.

"It's ok Harry, I-" she stopped and jumped up and away from the bed pulling Harry with her when the items that had been shrunk and put in their pockets by Scabior sprung up and started to enlarge themselves. Smiling happily up at Harry through the tears in her eyes Cruella gestured towards the bed, "we can start packing for Hogwarts and you can help me learn how to read before we even get there…I." she stopped speaking for a moment and glanced around the room for a moment, swallowing thickly before continuing on, "I've never had my own room before Harry and I think this is a good thing. I am so very happy that I met you Harry."

Harry coughed into his hand to clear away his throat and he looked away from Cruella's large happy eye to collect his thoughts better, "I'm glad as well. Let's pack our things away and I'll give you the tour of the Orphanage. We can start on your lessons tomorrow ok?"

Cruella nodded and the two of them started to pack their trunks for when they would leave for Hogwarts in a few weeks' time.

*~*~* DK *~*~*

They spent the weeks leading up to their departure to Hogwarts studying the various books that they had bought, Harry was happy to learn that Cruella was smart and quick to pick up new things. Her reading level was still not up to Harrys level but she could read and understand most of the words and the ones she didn't she would look up in the dictionary and thesaurus that Harry had found for her.

The other children at the Orphanage had learnt after the first day to not touch, speak or even look at Harry's new friend. Cruella also cleaned up very well, after a shower and clean clothes Harry had helped her brush out her tangle of curls and one of the older girls had been strongarmed by Harry into braiding it for her. Harry was very happy that once cleaned up, dressed in real clothing and fed, Cruella was truly an enchanting creature. She had a smaller build to him with fine boned features and still overly large eyes for her face but she almost looked like a fae creature from one of the fairy-tale books he had read as a child. Her tinted glasses hid her eyes only some of the time now, the two of them had experimented over the weeks to see how sensitive she was. She could go most days now without wearing them as she learnt to not focus on the colours around her but on either Harry, her books or her wand.

Their weeks passed relatively happily and then it was time to go. They were given instructions on how to get to the train bound for Hogwarts and the Orphanage gave them some change to catch a bus to Kings Cross Station and without a goodbye to the other orphans or workers the two young children pulled their trunks after them and off they went.

Harry stared around Kings Cross and looked back over the instructions.

 _Between platform 9 and 10 run at the barrier and you will pass through to platform 9 ¾._

Harry almost laughed at the absurdity of it. He was almost ready to turn back around when he noticed a strangely dressed man in a train workers uniform however the uniform was red, with gold epaulets and he also had several medallions hanging off of his uniform. On his head instead of a cap he wore a drooping elf hat, Harry couldn't be sure what to call it as it looked so strange. What was even stranger though was that people were passing around the man and not staring at him at all. He pointed out the man to Cruella, "Should we go and ask him? It couldn't hurt could it Harry?"

Harry thought that it was a better idea then missing the train and so the two of them went up to the man in his red uniform and cleared his throat, "excuse me, we're trying to get to Platform 9 ¾ could you direct us please?" Harry asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

The man glanced down at them and grinned broadly, showing off gold capped teeth and he gestured to the solid cement pillar that he stood beside, "just through there," he looked at his pocket watch and whistled through his teeth, "better get a move on or you'll miss the train."

Harry grabbed Cruella's hand and the pulled their trunks behind them, with their eyes closed they ran at the pillar with their clasped hands out in front of them as their last defence in case the man they had spoken to was a lunatic. They were both startled when screaming, happy voices could be heard and the steaming hiss of a locomotive were the sounds they heard instead of the crack of their bodies hitting cement like they had thought would happen to them.

Both of their mouths dropped at the chaos that was platform 9 ¾ as students ran about saying goodbye to family, were reunited with friends and tried to get their luggage onto the train. Harry pulled Cruella through the crowd, the red uniform man's words echoing in his mind and Harry did not want to get so close to his new school only to be left behind. They awkwardly manoeuvred their trunks on board and set out to find a compartment to enter.

They found one near the end of the train that was empty and so they stowed their trunks and took their seats by the window to look out on the platform to watch the scene.

"Harry."

Harry turned to face his friend and he caught her smile, "yes?"

"I-"

They were interrupted by the compartment door opening and a small girl with bushy brown hair stood there with raised eyebrows, -"this compartment has room Justin." The girl then pulled her trunk in without waiting to ask if it was alright to come in and the boy that followed made Harry scowl in anger. Ordinary people were trying to sit with them and it was making Harry decidedly unhappy.

"Rude" he said under his breath and then before either of the new people could sit down he moved so that he was sitting beside Cruella instead of in front of.

"I'm Hermione Granger," the bushy haired girl said and thrust out her hand expecting them to shake it. Harry eyed it disdainfully, her magic did not reach out to his at all and he pulled back away from her slightly. Cruella smiled hesitantly at the girl and looked between her and Harry for a moment before taking the hand and shaking it.

"Cruella Lestrange, and this is Harry Potter." Cruella said, she was confused however as the bushy haired girl laughed and squinted at her for a moment.

"Like as in Cruella Deville? Do you like Dalmatians? Do you wear fur coats?"

Justin Finch-Fletchley laughed uproariously and pointed to Cruella and started to sing, the bushy haired girl joining in, her cheeks flushed pink in delight, "Cruella Deville, Cruella Deville if she doesn't scare you no evil thing will –"

"Shut up!" Harry snarled, he stood up and pushed Cruella behind him while the small, purple eyed girl watched the other two children stop singing and smiling to look up at the angry Harry and the pale girl behind him.

"Sorry, it's just a joke. You don't need to get so angry about it." Hermione said with a shrug, "sorry if I hurt your feelings." She said trying to look around Harry and at Cruella. Justin just shrugged and sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and muttering under his breath towards Hermione.

Harry breathed in and out deeply to calm himself and then sat back down beside his friend, taking her hand and set out to ignore the two interlopers in their compartment. The train whistled then and they could hear the train workers calling out 'all aboard' before the train lurched and they were on their way towards their new school.

Their compartment was silent for a while before it crashed open again when someone outside pushed against the sliding door too hard. They had a flushed pink face and they were laughing in excitement.

"Did you hear? Did you hear? Neville Longbottom's on the train, he's starting Hogwarts this year." And before anyone could say anything to the excited student they were gone, smashing the door closed to spread the news along the train.

"Who?" Justin asked turning to the bushy haired girl as she excitedly pulled a huge book from her bad and was busy flipping through the pages biting her lip in concentration.

"I read about him….here, see this, he's said to have defeated the worst dark wizard of all time when he was only a baby. They call him Neville the-boy-who-lived."

Harry snorted at the name and turned to Cruella with a smirk "isn't everyone whose living the boy or girl who lived?"

Cruella giggled and smiled happily at Harry, "it's not a very impressive name for a hero." She said in reply and Harry grinned at her.

"What would be an impressive name then?"

Cruella pretended to think, but over the weeks spent living with Harry at the orphanage, with him teaching her to read and write she had become more confident around her friend and their humour and banter had grown from that closeness.

Her violet eyes sparkled mischievously and she said, "probably Harry Potter the-boy-who-lived."

Harry laughed and rolled his eyes at his friend, the two of them got out the books they had been reading from before they had left for the train station to continue reading to fill their time. Harry was halfway through 'Spells, Spats and Sparkles – a way to Charm and Duel' while Cruella had started on a small wizarding novel series that she was enjoying called 'Wizard Wally's Fantastical Adventures through Time and Space,' there were funny pictures every now and then that moved and she had found it a great way to increase her skill in reading.

The two of them ignored the others in their compartment and spent an enjoyable ride to school together, Harry bought some treats when the trolley lady came and then as they drew near to the school they changed into their school uniforms and robes in the respective bathrooms before preparing their trunks to be left on the Hogsmeade platform to be taken care of by the care-taker and other Hogwarts school staff.

They hadn't seen Draco the entire trip on the train but Harry remembered how the boy had said that his family were not to be seen as being helpful to Cruella and he wondered if that would hold true for them once they were inside the castle.

The two friends followed the crowd of first years as they headed over to a giant man with a lantern and then into small boats that powered themselves across a black lake that reflected the stars. It was a beautiful and magical experience to come to the castle that they would call home for the year.

They followed the giant as he led them to the castle and they waited until once again they were greeted by Professor McGonagall and led through the castle and into the great hall where the rest of the students waited for them. Harry had caught a glimpse of Draco in the milling crowd of first years but now that they stood in front of the entire school he found that his attention was wandering. The Professor placed an old hat on a stool and then the magical object sang a song about the four school houses, then the professor was calling out names and those students were coming forward. Harry tuned out most of it to take in the great hall with its ceiling that reflected the outside sky to up where the professors sat behind their table up on a raised dais.

"Granger, Hermione." Harry and Cruella watched the bushy haired girl place the hat on her head and then the hat called out "RAVENCLAW" there was clapping from one of the tables and the girl rushed over to her new house pleased and happy. There wasn't much more excitement in the placement of others until it was Cruella's turn.

"Lestrange, Cruella" Harry was angry and concerned when most of the school started to boo and hiss at his friend. He was angry to see the Professors ignore the students and just as he was about to go up to help Cruella he felt a hand grip his arm tight enough to bruise.

"Don't, not yet." Draco said in a hiss, "she'll get sorted and then once we know where she goes we can help her."

Harry pulled away from Draco's grip roughly and waited to see where his friend would go.

"SLYTHERIN" there was light clapping from one of the tables and a very pale and shaking Cruella hurried over to her new house table there were angry whispered of 'I knew it', 'snake scum' and 'death eater' however it settled down when the next name was called.

"Longbottom, Neville." The entire great hall erupted in cheers, whistling and clapping, an exact opposite reaction to the student before. Harry narrowed his eyes at the brown haired boy who walked forward. He was slightly rounded but not enough to be called fat, he had ordinary brown eyes, he was average height and the only remarkable thing about him was the strange curling scar at the back of his neck that looked like a swirl.

"HUFFLEPUFF," and another house table went crazy as the saviour of the wizarding world joined it.

Draco followed Cruella into Slytherin but did not sit next to her, nor did he talk to her and Harry could feel is magic start to spike at his anger.

"Potter, Harry" Harry strode up to the sorting hat with a determination to be in one house only. He ignored the hat speaking to his mind and chanted Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin until the hat yelled out

"SLYTHERIN," Harry hurried over to the table, sat next to Cruella and gripped her shaking hand tightly in his.

The last boy to be sorted was a red haired boy with dirt on his nose and he was also sorted in to Hufflepuff where great celebration was happening because their house had their hero.

Harry ignored the Headmaster who stood up, he ignored Draco who tried to get his attention and he also ignored the food that appeared in front of them. He waited until everyone was busy stuffing their faces before he turned to look at his friend. She had stopped shaking a while ago but she still looked very pale.

"Cruella," he said softly and waited until she turned to look at him before he continued, "I'll protect you from them."

Cruella smiled and her eyes sparkled in the candle light as her eyes roved over his face, taking in his sincerity, "As I will you."

Satisfied the two friends turned to their food and started to pile it onto their plates, they did not let go of each other's hands for the rest of the feast.

*~*~* DK *~*~*

TBC


	3. Chapter two

**Dementor's Kiss**

 _Chapter two – Sly things live in Slytherin_

Harry and Cruella followed the other students back to the Slytherin common room and listened to the instructions given to them by the Seventh year Prefects, Aliana Morden and Grigori Clegane. Their Head of House Professor Snape introduced himself, laid out the rules and expectations of Slytherin and that they could go to him if they ever needed to talk to someone. Cruella liked her Professors demeanour and the way his magic felt, it almost felt like home. She turned to Harry and offered a smile.

"I like him." She said, hoping that he would agree, Harry shrugged his shoulder and looked around the common room in interest.

"He's alright I suppose, we'll see what he's really like when we have him for class."

"First years this way, we'll show you your dormitories and then we will come back here to the common room to go over clubs, classroom etiquette and any questions you might have." Cruella looked over at the two seventh year Slytherin Prefects and was surprised to see them smiling at the first years, at the feast they had all seemed so stoic and cold. She turned around to look at the other students within the common room and saw them all laughing and smiling and she turned to Harry to see what his reaction would be.

The dark haired boy beside her was smiling faintly as he took in the happy atmosphere, the rich and comfortable looking common room with its cosy fire and the floor to ceiling window that showed the wavy light that was filtered through the black lake. Colourful fish swam past in schools and a large tentacle could be seen in the dark depths. Luminescent underwater plants lit up the underwater scene to make it just as magical as the great halls celling. Harry was content to find the Slytherin common room was vastly different to how the house had portrayed itself in the main castle.

The two followed the prefects to the stairway that lead further downwards, past door after door and down two more shallow staircases until they reached a long corridor of doorways.

"In Slytherin you do not have dormitories, however do not share this information with the other houses as they do. You will each have your own room with a shared bathroom between two rooms, so buddy up right now. Make sure it's someone you know you can share with." The girls quickly grabbed their friend's hands and the boys slung arms around each other. Harry and Cruella held hands and waited for the other first years to finish jostling around and Harry ignored the strange looks the prefects were giving the two first years.

"Right, form a line and we'll go down the hallway and give you your rooms. Once inside state your name and a house elf will deliver your luggage to your room. Any questions?"

The students shook their heads and followed the others down the corridor, Harry and Cruella ended up with the odd rooms right at the end of the hallway and entered to find it just as beautiful as the common room with the bathroom having a large window to the bottom of the black lake, the same luminescent plants floated along, a large tub filled most of the room. Harry smiled happily at Cruella and followed her into her room to look around.

"It looks just like mine, though I have a whole wall filled with books. Why is that not in your room?" Harry asked as he walked around the room. Cruella shrugged and walked over to the end of her room where a large tapestry hung which had beautiful pictures of mermaids and underwater fish swimming about. She pulled it up away from the wall and behind the tapestry was a hidden door.

"Harry, look at this." She said in excitement and the dark haired boy hurried over and tried the door. It wouldn't open no matter how much the two pushed and pulled on it. Cruella traced the lock and then smiled happily up at Harry's scowl.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because this is a mystery and I will either keep looking for the key, or find a way to magically open the door. Are there books on your bookshelves Harry? Maybe one of them has a spell to open this door?"

Cruella looked up in time to catch Harry's quick smile before he rushed out of the room, across the bathroom and into his own to look at the titles on his bookshelf. Cruella turned to look back at the door and touched the keyhole again, magic thrumming at her fingertips and she smiled happily. Slytherin really was full of surprises and she wondered if there were many other passageways and secret doors within the castle. She would have to ask Harry if they could look for them while the studied.

"Cruella Lestrange." She said out loud and with a crack a small, wrinkly elf appeared with her luggage. It gave a bow and Cruella curtsied to the creature. "Harry Potter is in the other room." The elf looked at her with its bulbous eyes and blinked them slowly before disappearing with a loud crack, only to appear in Harry's room with his luggage and then disappearing again.

"I take it those are house elves?" Harry asked, his nose in a book and skimming the pages before turning to the next book.

Cruella nodded her head and tried to get a look at the book Harry was reading. Seeing her movement out of the corner of his eye Harry tilted the book towards her. The title read 'household spells.'

"I thought there might be an unlocking charm in this." He explained and was happy to share the book to the curious girl. She looked down at the squiggles on the page and squinted her eyes, turning her head from side to side to make out the letters.

"Is this in English?" Cruella asked.

"Yes"

"I can't read it, is it different letters? Or words I don't know how to read yet?"

Harry glanced from the book to Cruella and shook his head, pointing to the letters his finger followed the looping words, "its cursive and calligraphy, it's English just written in a fancy way. We can practice this later." Snapping the book shut and flinging it onto Cruella's bed the two of them walked out of her room and down the corridor, up three short flights of stairs and back into the common room.

A few of the fellow first years were already seated in front of the two seventh year prefects, Harry and Cruella sat with them to wait for the last stragglers. Once all first years were seated the two prefects brought out their wands and with a wave and a few words a chalk board appeared and started to write down the days of the week, filling in times with information.

"Now, you'll get your class schedules and some of it might clash with what's written on the board, but we can worry about that later. Firstly, on Monday evenings the chess club meets on the fourth floor in room 403, Clarrion will tell you more about this." The female prefect said and then stepped back as a tall, thin boy stepped forward. His fingers were abnormally long and bony and his eyes were squinted to see in the low light.

"I'm vice-captain of Hogwarts chess club, we sometimes have competitions with other wizarding schools and go to represent our school. We have won consecutively against Avalon College in Eastern Europe competitions and Agraba School for witches in Egypt in the Africa continent tournament. The chess club meets at 7pm and goes for an hour, you play according to your rankings and try to move up through the club. Only the top five go to the tournaments. The club has mostly Ravenclaw's and Slytherin's, though there is one Hufflepuff and the occasional Gryffindor when they remember to come to the club. We encourage you to come and try out chess, if you haven't played it before we also have a senior member who will tutor you in a beginner course at the beginning of term." The boy then finally looked up from his hands and stared at the first years with his squinted eyes. "Any questions?"

It was silent for a moment before a strong, heavy set girl put her hand up, "do we need to bring out own chess set?"

Clarrion grinned and shook his head, "we have plenty in the club room, though it you are partial to your set you can bring them."

"Do you learn how to make wizarding chess sets in the club?"

Everyone turned to look at Cruella at her question, however the small girl never took her unnerving purple eyes from the slim boy. He frowned thoughtfully at her and took a step closer to get a better look at the first year who had asked the question.

"Why would you want to make a set when you can buy it?" he asked, he looked at the black haired boy next to the Lestrange girl as the boy had moved his hand to his side and Clarrion realised that this pawn had a knight next to it.

"Because it is magic that can be learnt, so shouldn't you learn to make the tools that you use?" Cruella thought this was a basic thing to learn, if you were going to use something you should understand it. She liked to understand what she was doing, or using and Harry had helped her gain more knowledge by teaching her to read. Harry also liked to question things and then they would find the answer together. Their time at the orphanage together had been a wonderful and enriching learning experience.

Blinking his eyes Clarrion turned to the two seventh year prefects who were still and silent behind him, "that's interesting, can you ask Professor Snape if that is possible?" the two prefects nodded and wrote it down on a piece of parchment and then waited to see if there were any other questions.

When no one else said anything the tall boy bowed and walked away, he was rubbing his long fingers together and Harry watched him go. He had seen the blank, unemotional look in the chess vice captains eyes and knew what it meant, the senior student didn't see people as people…no he saw them as pieces of a live chess game and that made him dangerous.

"Tuesday nights from 7pm – 8pm is Choir and Professor Flitwick leads this, there is also Orchestra practice in the same room and it is held in the Charms classroom. If you have any musical instruments or are particularly musically talented we encourage you to attend. Violententia will explain about choir.

The girl that stepped forward was very short and had a stylish bob of red hair. She smiled prettily and her voice was pleasant and charming.

"Choir is a great club, we sing modern songs as well as old wizarding songs. Last year we performed at the Ministry Charity Ball that raised money for those who were devastated by the magical explosion at Merlin University where many students lost their lives and others were permanently damaged from the experiment going wrong. It is also a great way to augment your magical core by learning more about how words in spells can be strengthened by the sounds that you make when you say them.

We hope that many of you will join us, and do you have any questions?"

A few hands went up and asked things like 'what do you wear for the events, what modern songs are sung, are there any boys in the choir.' Harry wondered about her comment about music and magic being used together and put his hand up.

"Can you demonstrate how music can enhance your magic?"

Cruella shifted forward next to him just as intrigued and he felt the happy thrum of her magic against his. Violententia grinned down at him, pulled out her wand and said 'Augmenti' a spout of water erupted out of her wand, she vanished the water before it could land on any of them. Then she breathed deep, closed her eyes and sang 'Augmenti' and instead of a spout of water it was a waterfall of colour and magic that came from her wand.

Harry titled his head towards Cruella and the dark haired girl grinned at him in excitement, it seemed that what Violententia had shown them would be something worthwhile to learn. A few of the first years clapped and the red haired girl bowed out and away from them.

The male seventh year prefect Grigori stepped forward, "Duel club is mandatory for all Slytherin students. You will be targeted by other houses, the fact that you are first years will not matter. Our Head of House Professor Snape has made this a required club for all Slytherin's and so you must attend while keeping up-to-date with your homework and other assignments. You will be taught defence spells first, if you use these spells against other students I would advise that you don't get caught. Duel club is on Wednesday evening from 7pm until 9pm in the dungeons and Professor Snape overseas this club. We will take you to the first club meeting after dinner. Girls are to wear shorts under their skirts, or change into track pants for the night."

A few of the first years giggled at this, Cruella turned to Harry and he just shook his head. He sometimes forgot that Cruella had not grown up around other children and so some things she just didn't understand. A small, thin boned girl stepped forward next, she had black spiked hair and purple streaks. Her eyes were as black as her hair and reflected the fire and candle light strangely.

"I'm Elvira, a fourth year. Art Club is on Thursday nights and usually runs from dinner time to curfew as some students enjoy a longer period of time to focus on art. We have two artists from Hogsmeade who come to teach us different art styles and how to bring artwork to life. We also sometimes have special guests who teach us sculpture, architecture and other artistic areas. We enter into the interschool art competition each year. Last year I received second place in the category of magical scenery from history with my depiction of Hogwarts being built by the four founders. It is currently hanging in the entrance hall.

Art is a very large part of magical history and is a magical skill that will help you with expanding your creativity in the magical world. I encourage you to come along and have a go. Do you have any questions?" Elvira asked, she looked around expectantly though she wasn't very hopeful. Slytherin's mainly came from pureblood families and not many of them were artistically inclined.

"Yes, do we need to provide our own art supplies?" the girl who spoke was small, with long brown hair and brown eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Oh…Tracy."

"No for first years it is provided for you, if you decide to carry on after this year you will need to purchase your own paints, canvas and brushes."

The brown haired girl smiled and sat back down, turning to her friends to talk. A boy this time put his hand up.

"I'm Blaise, do we do life drawings."

"Are you asking…?"

"Nude drawings, do other students model? Or do we get a model from Hogsmeade?"

Elvira narrowed her eyes at Blaise and Cruella shifted uncomfortably next to Harry. Harry turned to Cruella to watch her, her eyes were watching both Blaise and Elvira, tensed and her magic was coiling tighter to her, she had pulled away her magic from Harry.

"We don't do life drawings at Hogwarts, if you ask another student to pose for you in this manner you will be banned from Art Club, reported to Professor Snape and also Headmaster Dumbledore. If you decide to follow this line of art you may do so after you have graduated from Hogwarts."

Cruella relaxed once the tension had left the older students and Harry leaned closer to her, his Magic caressing hers to help her relax. He wasn't sure what had set her off, but he would watch this Blaise boy and make sure he didn't have too much interaction with Cruella. They clapped for Elvira and then waited for the next student to come forward. The girl that stepped up was tall, strong boned and looked strong. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a severe bun and her brown eyes were narrowed in annoyance.

"I'm Mavis, Sixth Year and the last club for weekdays is Household charms. It's in the kitchens with the house elves and goes from 8pm to 9pm. It includes charms for cleaning, straitening and fixing. They can also be adapted to fighting. Grigori get up here." The students shifted excitedly as the Seventh Year prefect faced off with the tall sixth year student. The girl moved quickly shouting "scourgify" and Grigori cursed as he hastily put up a shield charm. The spell bounced off the shield and hit the wall, taking off a layer of stone where it had hit. The two students bowed to each other and then Mavis turned to the first years.

"What would have happened if the spell had hit him?" a short black haired girl asked, her nose upturned and her blue eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Stupid, it would have taken off his skin." A weedy thin boy said with scorn and Draco frowned at the boy, he caught Cruella and Harry's eye and then quickly turned away from them.

"Right you are. Cleaning spells on their own are fine, but they can be used creatively in a fight. Come along to learn some things from the house elves and Professor Flitwick, see you there."

Harry turned to Cruella to see what her reaction would be. She smiled at Harry and nodded her head to the wall. "We could do that on our walls, make them brighter." Harry smiled back. "We might also learn another unlocking spell?"

They were interrupted by a strong fierce looking boy, "I'm Marcus Flint, Quidditch Captain for Slytherin. First years can't be on the starting team but you can join the reserves. Tryouts are this Saturday, brooms will be provided and if you have questions about the game go look in the library. If you get on the team practice is every Saturday 9.00am to 10:30am, there is also broom races on Saturday afternoons and you don't have to be part of the team to take part. You have flying lessons with Madam Hooch this week, so don't panic if you're not that good. We have tryouts every year. If you do get on the team you need to maintain an average E to play on game days."

The strong boy ignored the hands in the air and went off back to the couches in the common room. Grigori and Aliana snorted at the faces of the first years and Harry nudged Cruella and she grinned back at him.

"Have you flown before?" Harry asked and Cruella shook her head no, Harry shrugged, "neither have I, but it sounds fun."

"If you're good you should try out for the team Harry." Cruella suggested.

Aliana stepped up and grinned at the first years, "the second mandatory club is Ballroom dancing. Most of you are purebloods and know the expectations on you. Professor Snape has stated that dancing will help with your duelling and so is not to be missed. If you do miss it you will have a detention with the Professor and have a special dance lesson with him." Aliana's smile turned cruel. The first years looked at each other with wide eyes, however Cruella just smiled happily and shrugged.

"That doesn't sound so bad." Cruella said to Harry and the black haired boy sighed and shook his head. He thought it sounded terrible.

"Last Club is the best club." The boy that came forward looked a little mad. His hair was in disarray and his eyes were a golden colour that matched his hair. "Magical experimentation club is held on the seventh floor and is run by Professor Varden and Professor Vector. We have the chance to make up our own spells which is really fun, we then enter them into a competition against universities and other schools. If your spell is good enough it will get added to the mainstream curriculum or subject areas. If you are thinking about coming along, please do, it's on Sunday afternoon after lunch. If you have questions that's good too, save them for the club." The boy then left just as quickly as he had come.

"We should go to that one." Harry said and Cruella nodded.

"I think it would be interesting to make up your own spells, I think it would also be helpful in understanding how the spells we will learn work and why they work."

"Alright, that's it for tonight, get some sleep and meet in the common room by 6.00am if you want to go running in the morning, if not then meet here at 7.30am in your uniform and have your book bag with you and we will take you up to breakfast."

The first year students quickly got up and went back down the three flights of stairs to their corridor and one by one disappeared into their rooms.

Harry and Cruella went into hers to talk about what they had just learnt however before she could close her door, Draco slipped in with a happy smile.

"I wanted to talk to you both before tomorrow, are you both alright?"

"Yes of course." Cruella said as she sat down on her bed, Harry took the desk and was a little unhappy when Draco went and sat down next to Cruella.

"I'm sorry I didn't find you on the train, nor sit with you at dinner-"

"-or talk to her when we were walking to the common room, or sit with her when the Professor spoke to us or the older students about clubs." Harry continued on, he didn't really understand how the blonde haired boy could run so hot and cold so perfectly.

Draco flushed and shrugged at Harry, "I can't talk to you Cruella in public, and Father has forbidden me to do so. He has said that I cannot talk to you in class, outside of class in the hallways or at any time. He said that I may speak with you privately in your room or my own but that there are too many students around who report to their parents."

"It's alright Draco, I understand."

"Well I don't." Harry said, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the boy. "Are you going to be mean to Cruella in public? Are you going to allow other students to bully her?"

"No of course not." Draco said angrily, he glared at Harry for a moment. "I won't be able to speak to you, but I can make sure that the other Slytherin's don't say anything, it should only be this way for the first few years here at Hogwarts, and Father said I need to build up my power within the house so that the other students can't say anything against me. When that happens, then I can publicly talk to Cruella in the common room as I can control the other Slytherin's in not reporting that back to their parents."

"Why do so many people hate Cruella?"

"It's not you Cruella, not specifically." Draco said as he turned to her, his back to Harry and he ignored the surge of prickly magic that came from the dark haired boy. This was important for him to say and he needed for Cruella to understand just how much she would need to protect herself here at Hogwarts.

"Then what is it?" Harry asked, he moved from the desk to sit on the other side of Cruella, taking her hand and levelling a hard look at Draco.

"It's your family, the Lestrange's. Neville Longbottom is the hero of the wizarding world, he defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort from taking over the wizarding world when he was a baby. Your parents were Lord Voldemort's followers and were the most famous dark witch and wizard on his side. Are you following this Cruella?"

The dark haired girl nodded slowly, her mind tracing back to her early years in the grey cold place with her mother. Because of the grey place, bright colours hurt her eyes and loud noises still startled her. Draco continued his story.

"A prophecy told that Neville would kill the Dark Lord so his parents left him in the care of a friend under the fidelious charm, it's a charm where only the secret keeper can know where someone is. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange fought Neville's parents who were Aurors…" at Harry's blank look Draco explained, "wizarding police."

"Ah"

"To get the location of Neville for the Dark Lord, Aunt Bellatrix tortured Neville's parents until they went mad. That was when your mother was captured by other Aurors, your father escaped but was captured when the Dark Lord fell."

"So, let me get this straight, Neville is a hero and his parents were tortured by Cruella's parents who are locked away in prison. Because of this people see Cruella as her parents and an enemy of Neville. Is that right?" Harry asked, his hand squeezing Cruella's as she trembled against him.

"Yes, the name Lestrange is almost a curse in itself. It took my father a lot of money to clear his own name and my mother's as they are related to the Blacks. Others who were related weren't so lucky, my uncle Sirius Black was put in Azkaban without a trial just because of his last name. The rest of the Lestrange family was cleared, they're old wizarding nobility and gave up to the Wizengamot anyone in their family who had ties to the Dark Lord, and it's why they had custody of Cruella."

"Will those who are friends with me receive the same treatment as me?" Cruella asked, her large eyes looking at Harry when she said this. Draco tilted his head and narrowed his grey eyes at the two next to him and thought it through.

"Probably, and what happened to you in Diagon Ally is just the beginning of it I think. I'll help you as best as I can, but I won't always be able to. The quicker you learn to defend yourself the better it will be I think."

"I'll be with her." Harry said and he returned Cruella's smile before he turned his attention back to Draco. "Will she be attacked by older students as well? Will the teachers be unfair like Professor McGonagall was in Diagon Ally?"

Draco shrugged and brushed imaginary lint from his shoulder and sighed, he flopped himself gracefully back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Stay with Slytherin's, and go straight to Professor Snape if it gets too bad. There's not much that can be done really, the entire wizarding world is a supporter of Neville Longbottom and therefore you Cruella are their enemy. Please be careful and if you need anything that I can get you then ask."

Draco sat up quickly, patted Cruella on the shoulder, gave one last look to Harry before he said goodnight and left the two first years in Cruella's room. Cruella turned to Harry with a sad look and her magic felt sad against Harry's.

"If you don't want to be with me in public as well Harry then you don't have to. I don't want you to be hurt because of me."

Harry laughed grabbed both of her hands and looked right into her large purple eyes. "You are my friend Cruella, I said I would protect you and I will. It will be alright, we'll go to all of the clubs, learn as much magic as possible and protect each other alright?"

"Alright." Cruella agreed, they said goodnight to each other, both of them tired from the journey to the castle and the dinner and information overload.

Cruella dreamed of the grey cold place and of her mother.

 _The dark shapes were at the door again and her mother was huddled against the far wall to get as far away from them as possible. Cruella walked forward, the cold seeped into her bones and the dark shapes drifted closer. A grey hand slipped through the bars and Cruella held out her hand to touch it._

 _Her hand went numb as the grey hand caressed her own and pulled her closer, another hand ran through her hand and another touched her face gently, leaving a numb trail along her cheek._

 _Magic floated around the dark shapes and their grey hands, a magic that pulls and sucks and her own magic reached out to touch it. The grey hands moved slowly around her magic, testing it and tasting it before it was returned to her. With one last pat on her head the grey hands pushed her back away from the bars and back towards her mother._

 _The cold receded and feeling came back to her face and hand but the grey remained._

~*~*~*~DKDK~*~*~*DKDK~*~*~*~*

When Cruella woke up she found that her snake had been delivered to her room, it was curled asleep on a rock, the magical heat lamp on and she smiled down at the snake. It was such a beautiful creature and a gift from Harry, one that she would treasure. Looking at the small clock she had in her room she realised that it was early enough that she could go down for a run with the other students. She quickly dressed herself, pulled her long curly hair into a low pony and went upstairs to the common room to find only five other students ready to go.

Harry sat close to the fire, he smiled when she arrived and she went over to sit with him, "I wasn't sure if you would wake up for it."

Cruella yawned slowly, "Did Orliss arrive in your room? Cessation was in mine when I woke up."

"Yes, he was sleeping though, was yours?"

"Yes, I-"

"Alright, looks like it's just us this morning, let's go." Grigori did not look like a happy morning person. The five other students were students that Harry and Cruella had never seen before. They hurried up from the dungeons and out the front entrance to the school grounds. They jogged quickly to the Quidditch Pitch where a group of fifteen students dressed in Slytherin exercise uniform were warming up together. "Quidditch team, Flint is a tyrant when it comes to Quidditch."

They joined up with the Quidditch team and warmed up beside the older students, then they took off in a slow jog around the Quidditch pitch before they headed towards the Forbidden Forest.

"There are a few paths in the forest that we can use for our runs. Hagrid checks them every night to make sure they are safe for us in the morning. It there is a red flag in the middle of a path it means something's happened to it during the night and not to use it." Grigori running next to Harry and Cruella gave them both a large smile and spun himself backwards so he could speak with them. "Since you're the only first years here this morning I'll keep an eye on you both this year. You're the Lestrange girl aren't you?"

Harry shifted slightly to keep most of Cruella hidden from Grigori and the older boy laughed. "It's alright, my family supported the Dark Lord, uncles in Azkaban and dad almost got sent there himself. He said to keep a look out for you and keep you safe as much as I can. I don't mind, you're such a small thing that I don't think you can be all that dangerous."

He slapped Harry's shoulder with a friendly smile and then turned back around to face the front, "besides, I'm a prefect and it's my last year."

"Thank you Prefect Grigori." Cruella said and she smiled at Harry's scowl. Grigori gave a mock salute and then took off down the path to the head of the line of jogging Slytherin's to catch up to Flint. "He seems nice." Cruella said and she smiled at Harry's snort of disbelief.

"You think everyone you've met lately is nice." Harry didn't like others interest in Cruella, and it seemed more like Grigori was looking out for his own interests and not for Cruella's.

Once the jog was over and they were back at the Quidditch pitch they stretched and cooled down before heading back to the dorms to shower and get ready for the day. Harry was not surprised that Cruella was ready before him. He had found out that at the Orphanage she was very quick to get things done.

They waited for the other first years to arrive before Aliana and Grigori escorted them to the great hall for breakfast.

Just as with dinner the previous night, the Slytherin's once in the company of the others houses were now keeping their distance with Cruella and by association Harry. Harry didn't mind this as the area around them was quiet and they had plenty of room.

Cruella piled her plate with fruits and small pastries while Harry ate bacon, eggs and sausages. They both shied away from the pumpkin juice and had orange juice. Professor Snape came around to hand out their timetables and both quickly looked over their timetables to see what lessons they would have.

There was an explanation on the single Arithmacy and Runes classes, were they were to see if a student had the aptitude for these subjects to continue with them in second year. Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Defence and History were compulsory subjects until the end of fourth year.

"We have potions first thing in the morning, then charms and flying and then Astronomy late tonight. Did you want to go to chess club tonight?" Cruella asked as she looked over the subjects and the positioning of them. Harry nodded and then placed his schedule in his book bag, slung it over his shoulder and stood up.

"Come on, I think Grigori is taking us to our first lesson."

The two students quickly followed behind the large seventh year and the rest of the first years filed behind them. They quickly made their way down to the dungeons and Grigori left them out the front of the potions lab with instructions to do well and to go to the great hall after class for a snack before he would take them to their next class.

While they waited Harry and Cruella were ignored by the other first years who seemed to either know each other from before school or who had made quick friends amongst each other. Another group of first years came around the corner being led by two redheaded prefects who looked to be in their third year.

"Ok baby birds, wait here with the baby-"

"-snakes and Professor Snape will let you in soon."

The twins moved the small Ravenclaw's around to line them up against the hallway wall, the bushy haired girl who had made fun of Cruella's name stood in the group. The girl had her head buried in her potions book and had not paid any attention to the two red heads who had pushed her along with the other students. The two times then turned to the Slytherin's with identical smiles.

"Have a good lesson and try-

"-not to blow up."

"Thank you." Cruella said with a smile back and the two red heads shifted their blue eyes to her.

"A snake with manners, I think that-"

"-The world is –"

"-coming to an end."

"Is it?" Cruella asked, she could feel Harry tense beside her. The two of them had become comfortable enough to banter together however this was the first time Harry had seen her talk to someone else with humour. The two red heads laughed and came closer to Cruella and Harry, eyeing them both in curiosity.

"I'm Gred Weasley and – "

"-I'm Forge Weasley, pleasure to –"

"-meet you."

Cruella took both of their hands in her own and they shook her hands at the same time. This would be the test, she took a moment to prepare for rejection, anger and disgust like Draco had warned would happen and introduced herself.

"Cruella Lestrange, the pleasure is mine." The young girl could feel the twins freeze at the same time, their eyes slide sideways to look at one another, they then took in the dark haired boy standing beside the small girl and felt the magic swirling ready to attack and defend should they do the wrong thing. They both unfroze at the same time, pumped Cruella's hands again and then turned to her storm cloud friend for his name.

"Harry Potter." He said, stepping in front of Cruella and taking their hands in his strong grip. The two twins shared a look and then grinned down at the two first years.

"I think this will be a very-"

"-interesting year, yes very-"

"-interesting indeed, we-"

"Run along Weasley's, you're late for your transfiguration lesson." The voice was deep and came from the open potions lab room. Professor Snape stood there like a dark shadow staring out at the scene in the hallway. The picture of Professor Snape made Cruella think of her dream and of the cold dark shadows.

"Sure Professor, have a good day." The two said at the same time and with an elaborate bow the two quickly hurried down the corridor. Professor Snape watched them go and then looked down his considerably large nose at the first years who watched him with silent wide eyes.

"Inside, quietly and get out your books."

The students hurried inside, intimidated by the tall severe looking man.

Potions and Charms went by without incident, the Ravenclaw's were quiet smart children who worked well with the Slytherin's. The bushy haired girl had tried to answer all of Professor Snape's questions however other Ravenclaw's and Slytherin's had been called upon and all had been able to answer the Professor. The girl had seemed put out and had glared over at Harry and Cruella when they had expounded on the answers Hermione had given. the Charms class was shared with the Hufflepuff's who were happy kind children and the Slytherin's kept to themselves, the class had had the other boy who had been mean to Cruella but that boy had stayed as far away from the Slytherin's as possible.

Harry and Cruella had enjoyed Professor Snape's introduction to his subject and enjoyed learning the preparation and cutting techniques needed for potions. Their next class would be precision measuring and cleaning etiquette. Charms had been fun and they had learnt about wand movements and pronunciation, their teacher a half goblin had also been interesting.

They were on their way to their first flying lesson and the Slytherin Pureblood first years were talking excitedly and wishing that they had been able to bring their own brooms in their first year. Harry and Cruella walked along behind Grigori who took the group out to the Quidditch pitch where a spiked haired witch stood, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Ah, Mr Clegane, you and Mr Wood will be staying for the first flying class to keep your first years under control. Your professors are already aware of this." Grigori shrugged and stepped up next to the Professor, watching over their heads as the Gryffindor's and the Gryffindor Quidditch captain made their way over.

"Right, first years I want you to go and stand next to a broom, one per student. I need to make sure I've put out enough. Clegane, Wood, go and check that your first years each have a broom. The two older students hurried through the group. "Now, you will listen to my instructions one at a time. If you try to go too quickly and ignore my instructions you will receive a detention and will sit out on the next two lessons am I clear?"

There were a few mumbled replies and the Professor glared at them all, "Am I CLEAR?"

"YES!" the students yelled back, suddenly afraid of Madam Hooch.

"Stand next to your broom, place your dominant hand over it and summon it to your hand by saying up, with the intention for the broom to go to your hand." She looked around at the students for a moment, "anyone who doesn't understand what I just said put your hand up." When none of the students did she grinned and gestured to the broom next to her, "UP!" the broom came up into her hand and she gripped it firmly.

Harry and Cruella looked down at their brooms and then at each other. Harry shrugged put his hand over his broom and yelled "UP." The broom leapt into his hand and he grinned over at Cruella. She copied Harry and the broom went to her hand in a steady movement, not as quickly has Harry's had, but not in the indecisive manner as a few Gryffindor's had.

"Has everyone got the broom in their hand?" The two older boys made another round of the flying class and gave an all clear sign to the professor. "Good, now swing your leg over like this and sit on the broom, leaning a little forward. Once you have done this you will kick off from the ground, lift your legs up and you should hover in place."

They followed their professor's instructions, however there was a shriek and a Gryffindor girl went flying up in the air. Professor Hooch sighed, gestured to the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and together they went off to get the girl from her broom.

The Slytherin first years were snickering and once the student was back on the ground, Wood and the girl made their way back to the castle.

"Now, I said hover." Harry and Cruella did as they were told, happily hovering just off the ground. There was another scream, this time it was Tracy Davis who went flying through the air and then fell from her broom. Her arm cracked loudly and she was led from the field by Grigori. Professor Hooch stood and looked around at the rest of the students. "Now that we have that sorted, I want you to pull up from the handle, just a small bit. Pull up to go up, push down to go down, left to go left and right to go right. I want you to stay hovering over the ground for this."

Harry and Cruella were doing quite well, matching each other. Draco and the other Slytherin's were also doing well. Pansy and Millicent were a little shaky but other than that their group of first years were doing a good job. Another scream and a boy this time went straight up into the air before crashing back down before Professor Hooch could reach him.

"Everyone on the ground and brooms down as well. Don't touch them until I get back, if you have you will have detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden forest. Come along Finnegan." The boy woozily followed the Professor off the pitch and the rest of the first years waited until their teacher was inside the castle before starting to talk.

Draco and the other Slytherin's were laughing about the Gryffindor's attempts to fly and the Gryffindor's were doing the same about the Slytherin's.

"Shut up Malfoy." Neville said, stomping forward to face the Slytherin's.

"Or you'll what?" Draco asked, his grey eyes narrowed. He was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle his childhood friends.

"It's not like you can fly any better." The boy had sidestepped the question neatly and Harry saw the blonde boys face flush in anger.

"Of course I can, any one of us could beat you."

"Oh really? Want to bet on that?"

"Not particularly, you have nothing I want. Isn't your family dirt poor after your Uncle gambled all of your family's money away?" Draco smugly turned away from the Gryffindor and Neville frowned after him, however the red head beside him howled in anger and leapt for Draco's turned back.

Harry was startled when Cruella lunged forward and deflected the red heads punch, sending the boy stumbling away. Draco turned back at the sound, his grey eyes wide, "wha-"

"Don't touch him you Death Eater." Neville screamed and slapped Cruella across the face, she hadn't been looking at the brown haired boy, here purple eyes had been trained on the red faced boy who had tried to hurt Draco with his back turned.

Harry's vison narrowed, his green eyes zeroed in on the red hand print on Cruella's small face and he stepped forward. His magic spiked, sharpened and snapped out from him in a rush. Cruella moved again, this time in his direction, arms out and her magic flowing out to meet his in a calming manner. He was angry but not at her and he pulled his magic back before it could harm her in any way.

Everyone stood still for a moment, before all hell broke loose. They hadn't really learnt how to use their wands yet and so the Slytherin's launched themselves bodily at the Gryffindor's, their unrestrained magic bursting from them. Harry pulled Cruella behind him and grabbed the nearest Gryffindor and punched him straight in his white teeth, Cruella watched his back.

A shrill whistle broke through the clamouring, swearing and shouting first years and then they were pulled apart from each other by magic. Professor Hooch stood their red in the face, angry and glaring.

"Detention to you Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, Mr Weasley, and Ms Lestrange."

"What? But Longbottom started it." Draco said,

"We'll I'm finishing It." the teacher said. "Brooms away and sit down on the grass and be quiet for the rest of the class. Mr Thomas, take Mr Longbottom to the Medical wing to be treated."

Draco and Harry glared at the wizarding hero as he left the group with Dean Thomas, they were both not happy about what had happened.

When Grigori arrived to pick them up he took one look at Cruella, Harry and Draco and decided to quickly drop the other first years off before taking the three to see Professor Snape. Grigori knocked on the Professors classroom door, it was his own class and so waved at his fellow seventh years before giving his attention to his Head of House.

"Had a bit of a fight on the Quidditch pitch professor."

"Yes, I can see that. Into my office then, I will deal with them after class."

Grigori led the three scuffed and bruised Slytherin first years to the Professors office, sat them down and then left them there.

"Do you think we're in a lot of trouble?" Cruella asked after a long silence. Draco shrugged and Harry gripped her hand. They waited together for the end of lesson and for Professor Snape to come and speak to them. "They won't send us back will they Harry? Because we got in a fight with Neville Longbottom?" Harry looked down at the worried face of his friend and shook his head.

"I'm sure we'll be fine." He reassured.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Mr Potter, now…tell me what has happened that the three of you have detention on your first day of school." All three students jumped and turned to look up at their severe and frowning head of house. Draco stood up and placed himself in front of the two other Slytherin and smiled up at his Professor and Godfather.

"We'll you see, what happened is-"

~*~*~*~DKDKDK~*~*~*~*~DKDKDK~*~*~*~*~DKDKDK

To be continued.


End file.
